That Night
by The Soul Piper
Summary: A 15 year old girl is murdered in 1999. With all the evidence against her, her ex-girlfriend could be facing life in prison. Will Lily be able to clear her name? (mild slash)
1. Puddles

**Disclaimer: I don't Own these characters. They belong to CBS. **

**Warning: This story contains bad launguage and a bit of slash. if you don't like that stuff, then don't read this.**

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-Philadelphia, December 10th 1999-

"Is it true, what Katie said back there, Ashley? You and Adam really..." Tess faltered as she looked to the sky and closed her eyes before any tears could escape her. She had enough. Only minutes ago, she had run out on her own birthday party to catch up to her fleeing girlfriend. News had broken out that Ashley had cheated on her with a boy from school, and that she was now carrying his child.

"I...I didn't mean to. I..."

"You what, tripped and landed on his dick? Wasn't I good enough for you?"

Ashley looked away, unable to stand seeing the hurt in Tess' eyes.

"How could you do this to me?" She asked her.

"Tess, I'm sorry," she cried.

"You've said it before, Ash. But I don't feel it. Sorry won't do anymore...it just won't do." Slowly, Tess walked away, unable to go back to her own house out of awkwardness.

"Tess. Tess, don't leave me!"

-Two hours later-

"Adam, how much further is it? We've been walking for a long time," said Timmy, his little brother that his mom forced him to take to Tess' Party.

"Relax. I know a shortcut," He assured him as he took the boy into a dark, dirty alley.

"I don't think this is the way home. Maybe we're...Hey, when'd it rain?" Timmy asked as he began to hear splashes has he walked. Loving the sound, the boy jumped up and down in it.

"Tim, get out of there!" Adam shouted. His eyes widened as he saw what was behind his brother.

"The...the water. It's red!" said the frightened boy.

Adam screamed in horror and disbelief, causing his brother to turn around as well. They both stood there, staring and at the sight of the corpse of the girl they had seen, alive and well, only two hours earlier.

-July 22nd 2000-

Boxes filled the room. Shelves and shelves of them. Lily Rush was holding one of them carefully in her hand. The case had gone cold, and now it was time for that box to join the many others. Nobody was able to figure out who killed Ashley Jenson. Nobody would even come close, until that day. The day when a lead would come in...

**A/N"Please review and let me know what you think. If you don't like the story and you have nothing constuctive to say, then please don't say anything.**


	2. Her Jacket

**-**The present**-**

A girl lay in her hospital bed, beaten. Six stitches were needed to close the gash in her stomach. Only hours before, she had been attacked as she walked to her home from the community college she attended. It wasn't a new thing to her, but she was terrified none the less.

Lily opened the door. "Hello, Tess," she said.

"W…who are you?" she asked in her weak state. She made a bit of an effort to sit up.

"I'm Detective Lily Rush."

"Are you here to arrest me?"

Lily looked at her suspiciously. "What did you do that would make me arrest you?"

"It's not what _I _did. It's what everyone _thinks_ I did."

"And what would that be?"

"Killing my girlfriend. Everyone thinks that I killed her. They're mad because I never went to jail. They…they're trying to have the case re-opened so that more evidence could show up and they can finally put me behind bars for life," Tess explained. "So why _are _you here?"

"I was asked to come here by a woman, Katen Taurus, your girlfriend."

"Katie," Tess whispered to herself.

"She said that you didn't do anything to that girl. She said you loved her. She also said there were a lot of people out to get Ashley Jenson."

"I know there were."

"Well, do you know who wrote this?" Lily asked as she handed the girl a crumpled piece of paper.

Tess took it and began to read:

"_Just stop it! He's going to lock you out. You're going to die for this, Ashley. You're going to die!"_

Tears rolled down her eyes. "Were did you get this?"

"Katen gave it to me. She said that she found it in a pocket of the jacket that Ashley left at your house the night she died."

"I don't know who wrote it. It wasn't _me_, tough."

"Why is her jacket at your house?" Lily asked.

"It's a long story."

"I've got time."

Tess looked at her. "Well, it was five fears ago at my sixteenth birthday party…"

-December 10th 1999-

"I'm fine, Tess. I've just been feeling a bit sick lately. That's all," Ashley said as she took a small cup of water to wash away the foul taste of vomit. She leaned against the bathroom sink, unable to look at her girlfriend.

"Babe, what's wrong? This it the third time this week that I've seen you throw up. Do you want me to take you to see a doctor?"

Ashley's eyes opened wide. "No! Please anything but that," she yelled.

"Calm down. It was just a suggestion." Tess ran her hands through the smaller girl's long blonde hair. "You're so beautiful, you know that?"

"Tess, don't..."

"Don't what?"

"Don't talk to me like I deserve you. I don't," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Why would you say a thing like that, Babe? I know you. You're such a good person. I'm the one who doesn't deserve you." She leaned in and kissed the girl on the lips while wiping the tears away.

Silence lingered in the air for a moment.

"Tess, you should really get back downstairs. You can't just ditch you own party." Ashley left the bathroom and went to Tess' bedroom. She took her jacket, zipped it up and began to make her way downstairs.

"Are you going home?"

"Yes. I'm not feeling well. There's no need for you to miss out own you're party just for me."

"But I want to. If you need help you know I'll take care of you."

"Please. You're just making me feel worse."

Tess ran in front of her so that Ashley couldn't leave. "Please," she kissed her, "stay!" She pulled her girlfriend back into the bedroom. "It's ok, Ash," she said as she removed the jacket. Tess kissed her again, intensely. She moved them over to her bed, never taking her eyes off her girl.

"Tess, I don't think we should," Ashley said as she pulled away.

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"I'm just not in the mood."

"I don't want it to seem like I'm pressuring you, but you're _never_ in the mood anymore. What's going on?"

"It's nothing," Ash lied.

"Fine. But can you at least stay for a while longer? Just an hour."

Ashley looked at Tess with tired eyes. She was in to position to argue. "Ok. An hour."

-The present-

"Ashley was in such a rush lo leave that she forgot her jacket. I never had the heart to move it. Everybody said that it was creepy for me to leave it on my bedroom floor, but I just felt like I should keep it. It's a reminder of the last few moments that as far as I knew, our relationship was right," Tess said. "I never bothered to look in the pockets for anything. I couldn't even touch it. It's been on my floor for years."

"Thanks Tess. We'll keep in touch," Lily said as she walked to the door. Tess stopped her.

"Lily?"

"Yes?"

"You believe me, right?"

"Like I said, we'll keep in touch."

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been really busy. Here are some descriptions for the story:**

**Tess:**

**- 21 years old. **

**-She has dyed black hair (originally blonde) **

**-Five and a half feet tall.**

**-green eyes**

**-studying to become a nurse at McQueston College**

**Katie: **

**-21 years old**

**-has dark brown hair**

**-blue eyes**

**-works at a clothing store.**

…**more will come later (assuming I forget to describe the characters during the actual chapter again)**


	3. a picture says a thousand words

**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to CBS.**

"So, what do we got?" Vera asked before taking a sip of his morning coffee. He sat down at his office desk as Lily sat _on_ it. Scotty chose to stand against the wall near the corner as he waited for Lily to fill him in on the case.

Lily threw a file down on the desk. Three pictures slid out of the portfolio. One was of the murdered girl, taking her very last school photo. The second was a picture of her and her family on Christmas morning, opening gifts. The last, was of her, lying dead in the alley.

"Her name was Ashley Jenson. She was 15 years old when she was found brutally murdered," Lily said.

"Murdered how?" asked Scotty as he walked over to the desk to see the pictures. He picked the last one up and examined it.

"She wasshot to death."

Scotty winced at the sight.

"So who's our main suspect?" Vera asked.

"Well most people want to put Tess Wilkins, her ex-girlfriend behind bars."

"Why is that?"

"Well, according to the police report, Tess left her birthday party because she found out that Ashley had been cheating on her. When she tried to run away, she went after her. Ashley wasn't seen alive again, that night, and _Tess_ just wasn't seen. Her parents said that she came back home around midnight. That raises the question: If Ashley and Tess left at 8:00 pm, they left each _other_ at 8:05 pm, Ashley was found dead at 10:00 pm and Tess didn't get home until 12:00 _am_, what in the world was she doing for three hours and fifty-five minutes?"

They all looked at each other. Scotty then took the second picture.

"They look like the perfect greeting card family," he said as he looked at the photo. The Jenson family looked excited. The mother and father were sitting on the couch, watching their children open up their gifts.

Lily took the picture into her hands and examined it for a moment. "Those are the kinds you have to watch out for," she said with a smirk

**Authors note: I had to edit some things before I moved onto chapter 5 because I realized that parts of this chapter didn't make sense. Anyhoo, continue your reading! **


	4. Holy House

"It was crazy, how it happened. The last night I saw her, I...I wasn't myself." Margaret Jensen explained. She sat across a table from Lily as a dull light shone down upon them. Uncomfortable with the whole situation, she continued to fidget in her chair while she talked. "Stuff happened, you know? I was angry."

"Stuff? Like what?" Lily asked.

"My family is…different, to say the least. I mean, we live in a pretty catholic community but…my family is on a slightly different level," Margaret said.

"How so?"

"See… you'd have to know my father…"

-The Jensen home, 1999- 

"I can't believe you brought this filth from Satan into my house," yelled Abraham Jensen. His three children, Margaret, Joel and Ashley were all gathered in the living room along with their mother.

"It isn't mine!" Joel protested.

Abe held the colorful fabric in his hand. Never could a rainbow be as hated as the one in his tightening fist.

"'Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination!'" His booming voice threatened to burst the eardrums of everyone in the room. "Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 22!"

"I'm aware of that," Joel said, hiding the anger in his voice out of fear.

"And I suppose that next you're going to tell me that _this_ doesn't belong to you too?" His father asked, holding up a gay pornographic magazine.

Joel looked at it in horror. "Dad, I would never _touch_ that stuff. It's sick!" He yelled

"Sick like you!"

"Honey, I think you need to calm down. I know this is a shock to you, but we can't handle it this way." Mary jumped in. "Joel, we're your parents and we love you…even if you're gay."

"I'm not gay! I don't know how these magazines got here, but they are not mine!"

"You're lying! I won't hear anymore of this. I have no tolerance for liars…especially homosexual ones. I'm sending you to Holy House!"

"What? That's insane!"

"You're going to Holy House, and that's final!"

-The present- 

"Holy House?" Lily asked.

"The kids at school called it the "Defageration" or "Ungayification" House. It's a place where über Catholic parents send there kids when they find out that they're gay. Kids go in as flaming fruitcakes, and come out as Heaven-bound upstanding citizens," said Margaret.

"I see. But, what was it that made you act differently the last time you saw your sister?"

"I was pissed. I was angrier in that one moment than I had been in my _whole_ life. The pride flag my father found, it belonged to Ashley. She got it at a gay pride parade. And the magazine, it belonged to her too. It was a ploy. She didn't _mean_ to frame Joel. She just wanted to take attention away from her and her lesbian tendencies. If she was a lesbian, why would she own gay porn, you know? But I knew. I knew what she _really_ was. She printed off an email one day. A love letter from some girl named Tess. I didn't say anything because I didn't want her to get in trouble with our dad."

"But still," Lily asked. "What exactly made you so pissed?"

"Well," Margaret rolled her eyes to the ceiling as she recalled the events of that night…

-December 10, 1999- 

Abraham came out of his bedroom at the same time Margaret came out of hers. As they were about to cross paths, he pulled her into the bathroom with so much force, she couldn't stop him.

"Honor thy father and thy mother," he said, slapping her across the face. Her cheek was burning and red as she felt the sting.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"How long did you think it would stay a secret for, huh? You all must have been going around behind my back laughing at me. All this time…" He shook his head. "All this time, I thought Joel was a faggot. I spent my money sending him away when I should have _really_ sent Ashley," He slowly wrapped his hands around his eldest daughter's neck. There was so much anger building up inside of him that it was hard to even speak. He stressed every letter, hoping that it would go to her head. "You knew. You all knew and you didn't tell me. Ashley is dead to me…and so are you. I have no daughters!"

-The Present-

"I was so angry that her secret caused me to get in trouble. Do you know how hard it is? To have your own father look you right in the eyes and show nothing but hate for you? I hated Ashley for that. I let her know it, too, right before she went to Tess' party. I told her that I never wanted to see her again." Margaret broke down and began to cry. "My last words to her…my last words to my own sister were: 'I hate you. I wish you were dead!' What kind of a person am I?"

"What happened after that?" Lily asked, trying not to let the story get to her. She had to remember that this was a case and the sobbing girl before her could easily be lying to save herself. She couldn't show sympathy for her.

"I…I don't know. They next day, she was dead. I never saw her again. I know I was mad the last time I saw her, but I swear I didn't kill her! I didn't kill my sister."

**A/N: K, I watched my favorite episode of Cold Case last night. The one with the prostitute supposedly killed on tape, and it just inspired me to write another chapter. I hope you all liked it. Also, if you look back, in chapter two, I said that she had been burnt to death. I took that part out a while ago, but I don't think anyone noticed. It was an idea I had originally that fit in with the alternate ending, but I'm not using it anymore, so I decided to take it out. That's about it for now, I guess. See yall later!**


	5. Secrets

Katie sat at Tess' bedside, gently rubbing her pained stomach as they talked. "Are you excited about getting out of here tomorrow?" she asked.

Tess looked around at the room and all its machines and wires. "I guess so," she said with a sigh.

"What's the matter? I thought you'd _love_ to get out of this place? You must be sick of it in here."

Tess rolled onto her side, away from her. "I'm sick of it out _there_! Ever since Ashley…" She stopped herself, knowing that if she talked about her, she'd start to cry… that if she started, she wouldn't stop.

"Hey," Katie stood up and carefully climbed onto the bed, giving her a reassuring smile, "everything's going to be fine. Just wait. Your name will be cleared and we can forget this nightmare ever happen…" Katie was cut off by a knock on the door.

Detective Valens stood there, ready to ask questions. "I hope that I'm not interrupting anything," He said. "I just thought I'd ask you a few questions."

Tess groaned at those words. "This isn't really the best of times," she told him.

"That's ok. I'm here for Miss Taurus. I've got a few questions I want to ask _her_."

"Me?" Katie was shocked to hear this.

"It's a procedure," Scotty assured her. "Do you want to just step into the hallway with me?"

Both girls looked confused, Katie responded. "Ok, I guess." She grabbed her purse and followed the detective out of the room.

Once the door was closed, guaranteeing that Tess couldn't hear, the talking began again

"So, what can you remember about the last time you saw Ashley Jensen alive?"

"I've already told the police what happened, you know. I honestly can't think of anything else that happened." Katie told him.

Scotty made no effort to hide his smirk. Think harder…

-December 10th, 1999-

Katie broke away from the group of howling, drunk teens to go to the kitchen for a drink. An empty bottle on the floor cause her to trip, but before she cloud hit the ground, she was saved by the birthday girl.

She took a second to look into her eyes and smile. "Thanks, Tess. I really appreciate i…"

"Have you seen my girlfriend?" She cut her off. I've been trying to find her for a while now. Every time I spot her, she disappears on me." Tess looked worried.

Katie looked around. For a moment, her eyes stopped on a girls head in the kitchen and she automatically knew who it was. She pretended that she never saw her as she gave her answer. "Nope. Haven't seen her all night. I didn't even know she was here." She put her arm around Tess' and led her farther away from the kitchen door. "Ya know what? If _I_ had a girlfriend and she couldn't even be around me for _my_ sweet sixteen, I'd be pretty pissed. I'd probably even _dump_ her!"

Tess rolled her eyes. "Give me a break, Taurus. I'm not interested!" She angrily shook her arm free.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because I'm in love with _her_. I know you don't want to hear this, but there's no one else I'd want to be with…ever! Now let me find her." Tess walked away, headed for the basement.

Katie sighed in frustration as she turned for the kitchen again. Before she could step in, she heard semi-silent arguing that stopped her from going further. She stood beside the refrigerator where she couldn't be seen.

"How long has it been?" asked Adam Falling.

"Three months. I haven't had my period in three months," Ashley cried.

"This can't be happening to me. I have a future to think about. My father's gonna kill me!"

"Oh, and this is just a picnic for _me_? Tess isn't going to want me anymore. Not after _this_ one. I've messed up for the last time. She's gonna dump me." Ashley sobbed into her palms.

"I can't deal with this," Adam said, shaking his head. "I just can't!" He ran out of the room, right passed the eavesdropping girl.

"This has to be a nightmare," Ashley whispered to herself.

"Not quite yet," Katie said as she stepped forward.

Ashley's eyes widened in horror, knowing that she'd been standing there long enough to know her secret.

Before anyone could open their mouths, Tess walked in, completely oblivious.

"What's going on here? What's wrong?" she asked.

Ashley shook her head slowly, hoping that the girl would say nothing about what she heard.

Tess looked at the both of them. "Ok, something is definitely going on here. What _is_ it?"

A victorious smile spread across Katie's face as she opened her mouth…

-The present- 

Scotty looked at her, disgusted. "You're sick," he said.

"Look, I admit, I hated Ashley, and I'm _partially_ responsible for the breakup, but that's it. I wanted Tess from the first day I saw her and I wanted them to break up more than anything in the world." Katie spit out. "I hated the way I couldn't have her. I hated the way she loved her…but to kill Ashley just to _end_ it? I wouldn't ever go _that_ far."

Scotty looked at her again and listened to what she was saying. The tone of her voice…her _words_ were bursting with sincerity. Even if she _did_ launch a series of events that ultimately led to a girls death, it was clear that more questioning would need to be done.

"Do you by any chance have the address of Adam Falling?" he asked, getting out a pen and pad.

**Authors note: Sorry for the delay. I started writing chapter five about a month ago and it was completely different from this one because I spotted a mistake and it took a while to figure out how to correct it. I didn't know exactly what parts to drop or add. In the end, I decided to take out the last part of chapter three where the picture is described. I doubt anyone remembers what I'm talking about so let me just put it this way: chapter 3 alternate ending. There we go. I'll shut up now.**


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